Arriving at Peace

I have been reading Washington: the Making of the American Capital.  I had no idea there had been so much conflict over something I suppose I assumed just naturally evolved.  Politics were in play in ways I had never imagined. 

“It would have made great practical sense for the government to simply remain in New York City.  Congress was comfortably settled there, and it offered amenities that no city besides Philadelphia could match,” author Fergus M. Bordewich wrote.  In fact, Philadelphia was floated as one choice but those pesky abolitionist Quakers were there making noises about eliminating slavery, still very much an open question.  Southern states advocated for something further south. 

“Alliances shifted constantly, lasting sometimes no more than a few days,” which left congressmen so exhausted “they hardly knew what they were voting on anymore.”  The compromises were many to resolve this and other critical issues, including how to manage the country’s large accumulated debt.  From its inception, the frail developing country had been on the brink of financial default.  Annual interest on national and state debts was $4.5 million when the federal operating budge was about $600,000 a year.  There was much anxiety and fear that without coming to some compromise, the nation would collapse.

On July 16, 1790, George Washington signed the assumption act (addressing the debt) and the residence act (establishing the capital in Washington D.C.).  They had come to an agreement but not without a lot of maneuverings and vitriol on both sides.  But because of each side’s willingness to give up some matters of importance to them, they were able to set the government on a sustainable path.

Peace comes at a price, not so much by bloodshed (of which we know there is plenty) but by willingness to forego insisting on one’s own way at any cost.  And while “A compromise is an agreement whereby neither party gets what they wanted” is in some aspects true, these early legislators were able to achieve a goal that in the larger scheme of things was to the advantage of both.

May we be bearers of hope, the “wait staff” of Hope’s Café for each other and all those we encounter.  Shalom, Kate 

Hope’s Café Bonus:  2 things to keep in mind:

              “Learn the wisdom of compromise for it is better to bend than to break.”— Jane Wells

              “Compromise doesn’t mean you are wrong and someone else is right.  It only means you value your relationship more than you value your ego.”  — Vacks Quotes